As a first-year Birmingham-Southern student, Dr. Joe Chandler ’03 began to picture himself as a professor.

“I imagined coming back to be like the professors who shaped me – Shane Pitts and Lynne Trench in psychology, Andy Gannon and Jeanette Runquist in biology, Bill Myers in philosophy, John Tatter in English, Pam Venz in photography, and Natalie Davis in political science,” he says.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from BSC, Chandler went on to earn a master’s degree in cognitive psychology and a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Alabama. Chandler now, as associate professor of psychology, teaches the subject about which he was most passionate as a student. But he still writes poetry, reads presidential biographies, and owns a Canon film camera. He keeps a set of worn books by British mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead in his office.

“When I had to choose a major, psychology was the right one,” adds Chandler, who grew up in Anniston. “But my entire experience here has really stuck with me over time, and my multiple loves across the liberal arts have continued to shape who I am.”

Appointed director of grants and special projects in 2019, Chandler also uses his experience in securing outside funding to help faculty in all departments pursue support.

“We have so much talent on this campus – so many amazing scholars, artists, and creative staff – so I have spent a lot of time simply bringing together disparate support functions under one roof and fostering a culture of seeking external support,” he says.

With help from Chandler and the Office of Sponsored Programs, BSC has welcomed visiting faculty to campus and has seen new campus renovations and opportunities. Two recent projects made possible by the office are the campus mindfulness program led by Chandler and Dr. Keely Sutton and Dr. Pete VanZandt’s documentation of nocturnal pollinators in central Alabama.

This role allows Chandler to work closely with people all over campus, but – just as in his undergraduate major – psychology is his home base. He gets to teach through the lens of his research and work closely with students on individual projects, and he sees psychology as a unanimously useful and true social science, applying to all areas of life.

“Psychology is a handbook for how humans work: good, bad, and ugly,” Chandler says. “Understanding what makes a team work, what causes bias and shortcuts in thinking, and even being a fundamentally intelligent consumer of information via the science of psychology – those things will benefit you no matter how you choose to make a living.”

Chandler has two primary areas of psychology research expertise, plus a third in development.

Behavioral Neuroscience of Sleep

Chandler “stumbled happily” into sleep science as a research psychologist for the U.S. Navy in the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory in Pensacola.

“The lab tackled aeromedical issues in human performance,” he says. “One of those was the chronic sleep loss experienced by military personnel, especially Naval Aviators. I dove in, finished my Ph.D., and immediately completed a post-doctoral specialization in sleep.”

For four years, Chandler worked in the lab and, later, at the Naval Medical Research Lab in Dayton, Ohio. He often draws on this experience in his work at the College and can focus on this study through favorite courses like PY 202: Sleep and Dreams and research in the ’Southern Sleep Lab.

“I think via my own research,” Chandler says. “I try to tell stories about my own successes and failures in research to highlight what it looks like in actual practice. When I was with the Navy, I inherited a Phase II clinical trial for an anti-motion sickness drug. I am not a pharmacologist, and I didn’t become one in the process, but I use that experience in a lot of my teaching to talk about how cultivating fundamental skills in research and general inquiry can help you adapt to new work and life situations.”

LGBTQIA+ Community and Systemic Bias

His second research area is the socio-legal experience of LGBTQIA+ individuals, which began through collaborative work in graduate school with friend Dr. Rob Cramer, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. Cramer’s work examines systemic bias within the legal system against the LGBTQIA+ community, and Chandler was immediately interested in assisting with the research.

“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve never understood the vitriol expressed toward the LGBTQIA+ community,” Chandler says. “I was taught that love is love. So when I got the chance to help Rob with some statistical modeling, I dove in, and the connection stuck.”

A Personal Mission

When his father died from Parkinson’s Disease two years ago, Chandler was struck by the lack of a clear description of the disease’s progression before late-stage, highly visible symptoms. His research has allowed him to collaborate with BSC psychology students to explore this third area of research, the most biology-focused of them all. Chandler and Mary-Morgan Bullock Cooper ’21 – currently a UAB doctoral candidate – are working to develop a coherent description of Parkinson’s prodromal progression. So far, they have had two peer-reviewed presentations and an article in the works.

This story was included in a special social sciences edition of From the Hilltop, Birmingham-Southern’s alumni email newsletter.

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